Gretna F.C. 2008

The Gretna F.C. 2008 comes from Scotland, and as its name suggests, it was founded in 2008. Some consider it to be the restoration of the Gretna F.C. which lasted from 1946 to 2008. But, Gretna 2008 tries to keep its image separated from the preceding bankrupted club, and that is why they adopted a new name not to be associated with the bankrupt Gretna F.C.

Gretna 2008 is a club that operates under different management, and the club has made some significant progress in its nine years of existence. Initially, the club played its games at the Everholm Stadium in Annan, but now they have their own stadium in the town of Gretna called Raydale Park, which is a smaller stadium considering its 3000 people capacity. They play in the Lowland League, which they also co-founded in 2013.

The Clubs History: The Collapse and Return

Gretna F.C. before it went bankrupt had some notable success on the field, and in 2002 they were officially promoted to the Scottish Football League (SFL), and by 2007 the team made it to the Scottish Premier League under the supervision of owner and millionaire Mileson. The owner fell ill, and the club lost its financial support which resulted in the dissolution of the team. The team was also relegated from both leagues, the SPL and the SFL.

Gretna’s Supporters’ Society used the supporters’ trust to found a new club with Anton Hodge in the role of the chairman and strongly supported by the UK bingo website www.topratedbingosites.co.uk. Few amendments were made, besides the official club’s name, like that the trust board is taking over the management. The club is in a 100% ownership of the Supporters’ Society, and the board consists of the elected society members.

Their beginnings seize back to recruiting reserve team members of Workington and entered the First Division of the East of Scotland Football League in a matter of days. The club had a good start and was ranked 4th in the East of Scotland League in their first season. In 2013 they became founder members of the Lowland League.

The Squad and the Team’s Colors

The Gretna 2008 squad chiefly enters the football field in black and gray jerseys which features white dashes, whereby the old Mileson’s Gretna F.C. had white jerseys. When we track the club’s history, black and white were always a part of the Gretna team.

The team consists of native players so far, and no international players have been brought in to play for the team. The squad is led by 40-year old Matt Henney who played for Barrow for the most part of his career. The former football player-turned-manager retired as a player on 1 July 2009. He was appointed to the honorary position of manager only recently, in March 2017.

The former midfielder who scored goals for the SPFL announced that he is looking forward to leading the Raydale team into the SPFL. He is satisfied with how things are organized in the club and looks forward to regaining local support for the club. Before Gretna 2008, he also managed Cleator Moor, Windscale, and Penrith. He believes that the club features some great players that could bring the club further.

Honours

Gretna 2008 has many successes behind in its short history, even if it is not always the winner and occupies the top position it ranks quite well in its own league, being always in the top 5.

Nevertheless, the club succeeded to secure the title in the East of Scotland Football League First Division in the season of 2010/2011. That was a promising achievement after only two years of activity. The 2012/2013 season was a turning point since that is when the team gained its green card to the Lowland Football League. When they entered the Lowland League in 2013, the team delivered an average performance ranking 7th out of 12 teams, but let’s not forget that it was their first season in the league. By the next Lowland season, which counted 14 teams, the team improved and took the bronze medal home in 2014/2015. So far, that was their biggest success in the Lowland League, but the team has great potential to win gold, and subsequently, to get a promotion into the SNFL or SPFL.